OFFICIALS from the Société des Bains de Mer will be at ATM to present their luxury resort properties in Monaco, including the newly opened Monte Carlo Bay Hotel, according to the company’s Axel Hoppentot.
The company hopes to raise GCC clients by 10 per cent, he says.
“Our Middle Eastern clients account for seven per cent of our client mix, in the leisure segment, which is 62 per cent. Together this is about 5,000 room nights. We would like to double that number over the next 18 months,” he told TTN.
The vast majority of guests come from Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. “Most guests come for at least for at least 10 days, especially in summer. The attraction is our hotels – two of which are heritage palaces, the Hotel de Paris and the Hotel Hermitage, both connected to the thermal Marina Spa Monte Carlo.”
The company seeks to target families and, through a deal with Emirates Holidays, customers can have honeymoon or vacation packages specially constructed.
Guests are encouraged to visit Monte Carlo around special events, such as the January circus or the Monte Carlo summer festival. Casinos are another attraction, as is the Grand Prix. “The Bahrain Grand Prix has raised Formula One awareness, we’re now seeing families from the Gulf come in specially for the race.”
Hoppentot says health tourism is another area that is being developed in the tiny principality, with a new cardio-thoracic centre, the thermal spa, the Princess Grace Hospital and the Institut Medicale Monegasque du Sport.
The group does not have an Arabic restaurant, says Hoppentot, “but we do have a chef that can accommodate special requests. Seventy key people in our room service department can organise any events, even in guests’ rooms.”
The group also has special deals for travel agents.